Martin is new Miami U Coach

3 years ago

Miami University Athletics Director David Sayler has tabbed Chuck Martin as the 36th head coach in the history of Miami football.

“I am excited to be joining the Miami football family and want to thank David Sayler for this incredible opportunity,” said Martin. “I look forward to getting back to the excellence Miami stands for and am excited to hit the ground running.”

Martin, who has more than 20 years of collegiate coaching experience, brings six years of head coaching experience to the RedHawk program. He has twice been named the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) National Coach of the Year, earning the honor in 2005 and 2006, and has coached in seven national championship games in the past 13 seasons. In addition to his head coaching experience, Martin has served as a coordinator on both sides of the ball. Of those seven national championship game appearances, he has been a part of four national championship wins, with two titles under his direction as head coach/offensive coordinator and one as a defensive coordinator.

“When I laid out the criteria that Miami was looking for in its next head football coach, it aligns perfectly with Chuck Martin,” said Sayler. “Coach Martin comes on board with a plan that will succeed here at Miami, while embracing the academic mission of this university at the same time. We are excited to welcome him and his family to Oxford.”

Martin spent the past four seasons at Notre Dame, serving as the offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach (2012-13) and defensive backs/recruiting coordinator (2010-11). In 2012, he orchestrated an offense that played in the BCS National Championship game versus Alabama. In 2011, he was named one of the top 25 recruiters in the nation by ESPN.com and was named to Rivals.com’s Second-Team Assistant Coach Dream Team.

In Martin’s two years calling plays, Notre Dame combined to go 20-5 overall and was one of the most balanced offenses in the country, averaging 26.4 points, 170.0 rushing and 235.6 passing per game.

Prior to arriving in South Bend, Martin was head coach and offensive coordinator for Grand Valley State University from 2004-2009 and compiled a 74-7 (.914) record, including an impressive 16-4 record in the NCAA Division II Playoffs. He and the Lakers won back-to-back national championships in 2005 and 2006 and finished runner-up in 2009. He directed Grand Valley State to 48 consecutive regular-season victories and 45 straight wins in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC). He also guided the Lakers to a Division II record 40-game winning streak from 2005-07. Martin produced seven Associated Press First-Team All-America players as head coach.

At GVSU, Martin’s offenses averaged 35.1 points, 208 rushing and 427 total yards per game. The Lakers ranked among the top-25 nationally in total offense in five of six seasons and ranked in the top-27 in scoring offense in all but one season. In that time, his offense scored at least 30 points in 56 of 81 games and scored at least 40 points in 34 contests.

Many of those offenses were led by quarterbacks who were developed under Martin. In six years, GVSU produced four Harlon Hill finalists, given annually to the NCAA Division II Player of the Year (Cullen Finnerty in 2006 and Brad Iciek from 2007-09). In that span, Laker quarterbacks threw 184 touchdown passes and just 41 interceptions.

His offenses were not just about the quarterback. In all six seasons, he produced a 1,000-yard rusher. In four of those seasons, a running back finished as a top-10 rusher in Grand Valley State history.

Before becoming head coach, Martin served as the defensive coordinator for the Lakers in 2003, helping GVSU win a national championship. Martin’s defense allowed just nine total points in the final three games of the playoff run and among the ranked top-10 nationally in scoring, rushing and total defense that season.

Martin served as the defensive backs and outside linebackers coach at GVSU from 2000-02. Prior to arriving in Allendale, Mich., Martin spent time at Eastern Michigan (1998-1999, linebackers), Millikin University (1996-97, defensive coordinator/defensive backs), Wittenberg University (1994-95, linebackers) and Mankato State University (1992-93, graduate assistant/linebackers).

While attending Millikin (1986-90), Martin was an All-American safety and was selected as a GTE Academic All-American. He doubled as an All-American place kicker, received Academic All-District honors for the Millikin baseball team and was inducted into the Millikin Hall of Fame in 2008.

He graduated in 1990 with a degree in accounting and earned his master’s degree in physical education from Mankato State University in 1993.